Prospers Birthday
by InkWeaverabc
Summary: Prospers birthday... says it all! Chapter 1, Bo bakes a cake. Chapter 2 is now up! Hornet/Prosper. Please reveiw! PLEASE DONT JUDGE ME BY THIS STORY. I am well aware that is appallingly written, and as soon as I have time I will rewrite it. Thanks.
1. Bo bakes a cake

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters ect. **

**If you want chapter two to be up faster, review! Enjoy.**

**The story is set about a year, or a bit more, after the ending of the Thief Lord.**

Prosper was awoken on the morning of his fourteenth birthday by his small brother, Bo, landing smack in the middle of his stomach.

"Happy Birthday, Prop!! Are you awake?" Prosper groaned and rolled over. "No."

"Yes, you are!" Bo announced. "Or you wouldn't have said 'No'"

"Bo!!" Hornet appeared in the doorway. "Don't-! Oh. Too late!" she grinned at Prospers sleepy face.

"Happy Birthday anyway, Prop."

"Thanks, Hornet." Prosper rolled over, depositing Bo on the floor, and rubbed his eyes.

"Prosper! Do you want my present now?" Bo was extremely excited. Birthdays were very special, and Prospers even more so. Besides, he had something particularly exciting to do today.

"No, Bo, they come after breakfast, remember? And speaking of breakfast, Ida told me, that if you were awake, she's making pancakes!" Hornet said.

"Yum. And yes, I am now awake. Please tell her I'll be down very soon." Hornet smiled and departed. Bo ran after her.

Prosper lay back down on the bed, then sat up. Ida's pancakes were not to be missed.

When they were all finishing there fourth, (in Prospers case, fifth) pancake, Bo's patience gave out. He ran from the room and appeared with a roughly rapped small package held together with a large quantity of sellotape.

"Open it, Prop!" He cried.

"Ok, Bo lets clear the table first!" Ida said, getting up and collecting the plates. "Hornet, would you go and get the others?"

"Ok." Hornet turned and walked out of the room.

When they had finally finished the clearing up, Bo thrust his present into Prospers lap. Prosper struggled with the sellotape in vain until Hornet fetched him a pair of scissors.

"Thanks, Hornet." He said as managed to cut open the present. It was a small gold-coloured gondola, of the sort that is for sale in all of Venice's tourist shops.

"Wow, thanks Bo!" said Prosper, giving his brother a quick hug. "I'll put it by my bed."

Ida's present was a book on Venetian history, which Prosper received gratefully. Most boys would be rather unimpressed with such a present, but Prosper was very interested in everything about Venice, and even if he had found it dull, he would not have shown it.

Hornet handed over her present with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I didn't know what to get you." She said. It was some nice chocolate, and a book, the next of a series that he was reading. "Do you like them?" Hornet asked.

"Thanks, Hornet, they're great." Hornet smiled.

After breakfast, Prosper was hastily pushed out of the house (with strict instructions not to be back for at least half an hour) on the pretext of going to buy crisps and lemonade. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he didn't want to spoil Bo's fun.

"Ida! Ida! When are we going to make the cake?" Bo yelled running to the living room.

"Oh now Bo, if you want."

She followed him in to the kitchen. Bo had got all of the ingredients out on the table and was busy checking the recipe.

He looked at her anxiously. "Do we have any flour, Ida?"

She laughed. "Yes of course we do, but Bo, what do we do first, before cooking?"

"Err…"

"We wash our hands Bo! Especially if you have been eating pancakes with your hands and you are very sticky!"

"Ok." Said Bo reluctantly, and ran over to the sink. Grown-ups could be such a bore sometimes.

He ran back to the table. "What first?"

"First we measure out the margarine and sugar. Here, you take the sugar. I'll tell you when to stop. Not now… Stop!" Bo pulled up a little too late, and Ida had to spoon some sugar back into the bag. Nothing else happened until there was a minor catastrophe when the bag of flour Bo was pouring into the scales ran out!

"Oh, no! Will Hornet have to go and get some more? There won't be enough time!" said Bo. He was very worried.

"No, calm down. I have some more in here, I think." Ida said, rummaging in the cupboard. There was. Bo was relived.

After everything had been measured out, Bo was given the wooden spoon, and began to stir with great energy.

"Be careful, Bo!" Ida cried. "You don't want it to go all over the kitchen!"

Just then, the door bell rang. Ida turned from the cupboard. "Bother! Don't do anything till I get back, Ok, Bo?"

"Yeah, ok Ida" Bo wasn't really listening. Ida wiped her floury hands and walked out of the room to answer the door. Bo stirred for a while, but soon became bored. What was next on the list? He leaned close to read. _Vanilla Essence -- 1 tsp. _What did _tsp_ mean? Oh, yes he remembered, it meant one tablespoon. One tablespoon of that little bottle that Ida kept in the side cupboard. Of course, she'd told him not to do anything until she got back. But Prosper might get back at any minuet! And Ida might be a long time! Bo decided.

He dragged his chair over to the side cupboard and opened it. He began to rummage in it. He hadn't realised there was so much here! Finally he saw at the back a little black bottle that looked exactly like the vanilla essence. He scrambled down of the chair and ran back to the table. Very carefully he spooned it out on to the spoon and pored it in. He was just getting down from putting it back in the cupboard, when Ida came back in.

"Sorry Bo, right what's next?" She glanced at Bo's face and groaned. "OK, what have you put in it?"

"Oh, just the vanilla essence!" Bo said quickly.

Ida groaned again. "Bo! I told you not to do any thing! But it's…" Her voice trailed off as she saw the tablespoon lying on the table. "You used _that?_"

"Yes. Is anything wrong? Tsp means tablespoon, doesn't it?" Bo was getting confused.

"No! Tsp means _teaspoon!_" Ida sighed and shook her head. "You did use vanilla essence I suppose?"

"Of course! I mean I used the little bottle you always use. The one in the cupboard."

"Show me." Sighed Ida.

Bo ran over to the cupboard and pointed to the bottle he had used. Ida picked it up.

"Oh Bo!" She said helplessly. "This is _peppermint _essence!"

"Oh" said Bo. "Will it matter?"

"I don't know! I've never put it in a cake before!"

"Oh" Said Bo. He seemed to be saying that a lot.

"Well it's too late to change anything now. We'll just have to put it in and hope for the best." Ida scooped up the mixture and put it into the round pans, and then into the oven. She sat down and began to laugh. "Oh, Bo. What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know." Bo replied. But then his face brightened. "Can I lick the spoon?"

**Please review! I will have chapter two up as soon as I can.**


	2. Truth or Dare

**A.N. I do not own the thief lord or any of the characters in it. *****sigh***

**Sorry this took so long I haven't had much time for writing recently.**

**I have also been working on something else, which should be up soon.**

"Happy Birthday, Prosper!" Riccio cried as Hornet opened the door to him and Mosca. "Yeah, happy birthday." said Mosca, more quietly. He smiled at Prosper, who grinned back.

"My, goodness, 14!" said Riccio in mock sympathy. "You are getting old. How's it going, Bo?" this last was addressed at Bo, who had just come into the already crowded hallway.

"Ok, let's go to the front room before we're all crushed!" said Ida. "Do you want something to drink, anyone?"

"Yes, please." Riccio and Mosca were both thirsty. Ida looked at Hornet and Prosper.

"No thanks, Ida" said Hornet, and Prosper shook his head as well. "I'm fine."

Ida got some lemonade for Riccio and Mosca, and everyone went into the front room. Ida went to carry on cooking the dinner.

"Are Scipio and Victor coming?" asked Riccio.

"Yeah," said Prosper "but not till later. There're busy, apparently."

"Mmmm." Riccio nodded wisely. "Important detective work, no doubt."

"Probably" said Hornet. There was a pause. Then,

"Oh, yes!" cried Riccio. "How could I have forgotten? Presents!" He handed Prosper a small package, rapped in brown paper.

"Yeah, sorry about the paper," Began Mosca, but Riccio interrupted.

"It's the present that matters! And I hope you're grateful, if I told you how much that cost…" He finished with a dramatic sigh.

"Riccio!!" Mosca said, but he was laughing. "I told you not to say that!" Prosper had finished opening the present.

"Wow, guys, thanks!" It was a small penknife. "That's cool." He began to open the different blades. There seemed, to Hornet at least, to be at about twenty extraordinary things she couldn't imagine anyone using. "What's that?" she asked.

"It's a can opener." explained Prosper.

"Cant you just use a normal one?" Hornet wasn't any less confused.

Riccio rolled his eyes. "That's not the point Hornet, can't you see?"

Hornet shook her head. "What's to see?" Riccio gave up.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Bo, ten minuets later.

"What do you want to do, Prop?" asked Hornet.

"I don't know, play something?" Prosper didn't have very many ideas.

"I know." announced Riccio. He lowered his voice "Truth or Dare!"

"But Ida doesn't like us playing that game!" said Bo.

"Oh, stuff what Ida says!" said Riccio. "You want to play Truth or Dare, don't you Prosper?"

"Yeah, I guess we could..." Said Prosper uncertainly.

"Right! Can you get a dice, Hornet?" Hornet, looking dubious, left the room, and ran upstairs.

"Everyone sit in a circle." Instructed Riccio. By the time this was done, Hornet had returned with a dice.

"How does this work, then Riccio?" asked Mosca.

Riccio told them. "We all sit in a circle, like we are, and take turns to roll the dice. If you roll a six, then you have to choose truth or dare. If you choose truth, you have to answer any question we ask you truthfully. If you choose dare, you have to do the dare. O.K.?"

"O.K." said everyone, and they started. "Youngest first." said Riccio, so Bo rolled. Four. Then Prosper. Five. Then Mosca, three. Then Riccio, four again. And then Hornet. The dice came up six.

"Finally!" said Riccio. What do you want?"

"Err, Dare!" decided Hornet. "So what do I have to do?"

"Hmmm."

"I know!" said Bo. "We throw water over her."

"O.K. Bo, but it's supposed to be something she does." Explained Prosper.

"Although…" Began Riccio, "The water is good…"

"Have a cold shower!" said Mosca.

"Or we could just stick her head under a cold shower." Said Prosper. "Then we could be sure she'd done it."

"Yes, that's good!" Announced Riccio. "Lets go upstairs."

"Oh." Said Hornet. "Can't I just go and do it myself?"

"No, of course not" said Riccio. "We're all going up!"

Together they marched the protesting Hornet out of the front room, into the hall, and up the stairs to the bathroom. Mosca grabbed the shower head and turned the temperature control to the coldest setting. Bo climbed up onto the toilet, and Prosper and Riccio took one of Hornet's arms each.

"Sorry about this, Hornet" said Prosper.

"It's fine." Hornet muttered in a muffled voice. Riccio and Prosper pushed Hornet forward and she gave a muffled shriek as cold water splashed down over her neck. After about a minuet, they let her pull out, and Mosca turned off the shower head.

Prosper handed Hornet a towel and she grabbed it, and began to rub the back of her head. "Phew! Glad that's over" said Hornet. "I can't wait for someone else to have to do something like that."

As they came down the stairs, the doorbell rang. Bo ran forward and opened it. "Hi Scip!" He said as he grinned and saluted them as they came in.

"Happy Birthday, Prop!" said Victor, but Scipio was frowning in confusion at the group of kids standing bunched together on the stairway, Hornet's hair was still wet. "What…" He began, but Riccio frowned at him. "Never mind." He finished. "Happy birthday." He handed Prosper another present. This one was bigger, and quite heavy, and Prosper frowned slightly as he took it.

"What could that be?" he wondered out loud.

"Well why don't you find out?" asked Mosca. Prosper ripped off the paper and gasped at what he was holding. It was a large camera. It looked like a good one, too.

"Oh, gosh, thanks so much!" Prosper gasped. Hornet smiled to herself. She knew it was just what he had wanted, but he hadn't wanted to ask for it, because it cost so much. She had told Scipio about this, about a week ago, when he had informed her that he and Victor still had nothing for Prosper.

"Where's Ida?" asked Victor.

"In the kitchen" said Hornet. Victor went off to see Ida.

"What on earth are you guys doing?" demanded Scipio the moment they were in the front room on their own.

"Truth or Dare, of course!" said Hornet. There was a trace of bitterness in her voice, as if she wished the game had never been invented.

"Ah. And I assume Hornet's dare had something to do with water?" Scipio looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"They stuck my head under a cold shower." Hornet informed him icily.

"Cool." Scipio said as he dodged Hornet's kick." Can I play?" He asked. He might look like an adult, but underneath he was still mainly 16.

"Of course!" said Riccio. "Let's keep going." Scipio seated himself on the sofa behind Hornet, and Bo rolled the dice.

The next person to get a six was Mosca.

"Dare!" he said. "I know" announced Hornet, "Wait here." She ran from the room. "The others looked at each other in confusion, except Prosper, who thought he knew what she was fetching. After about half a minuet, Hornet returned and held out a small white object to Mosca. "Eat this!"

"What is it?" he asked suspiciously.

"A garlic clove." She replied innocently. Prosper grinned. "That's a good one. Eat it Mosca!" Mosca took the object from Hornet's hand. Tentatively, he nibbled the end. Nothing happened for a second then his face screwed up in revulsion. "Ugh!!" He gasped. "What_ is_ this?"

"I told you" said Hornet. "It's a garlic clove. And you have to eat it." She was grinning.

Very slowly, Mosca put the clove in his mouth. Then he chewed and swallowed it with extraordinary speed. Prosper fetched him a glass of water, which he drank hastily, gulping it down.

"Whoa!" he gasped "never ever do that to me again! That was the most horrible thing I have ever tasted!"

"Mmm." Said Hornet. "Isn't it funny it can make things taste so nice?"

"I bet your breath smells now Mosca." Said Riccio slyly. Mosca groaned.

Riccio rolled the dice. "No." He handed it to Scipio, who rolled… a six.

"Oh, no." Scipio muttered, then said out loud, "Dare"

"What? Said Riccio. "Will no-one say truth?"

"No." said Scipio firmly. "Dare."

"OK." Everyone thought for a while.

"Do fifty press ups!" said Prosper. "Yes!" said everyone else. "Scipio groaned. "_Fifty_? Do really I have to do _fifty_?"

"Yes!" Replied the room at large. Scipio threw him self down on the floor and began to do press ups. For a while Prosper, Riccio and Mosca went on at him like drill sergeants.

"That's not a press up!"  
"Push up higher!"

"Breath in and out!"

"Stop gasping so much!" and the like, but eventually they tired of it and returned to the game. With no one supervising him, Scipio quietly stopped doing press ups and lay down on the floor, then sat up and went back to his position in the circle. The next person to roll a six was Prosper. He had seen quite enough dares. "Truth." He announced.

"That's more like it!" said Riccio. He too was getting tired of dares. "Everyone think of a good question!" There was a pause. "Actually, stick your fingers in your ears, Prop." Said Riccio. "Then we can talk about it." Prosper stuck his fingers in his ears. He was already regretting asking for Truth.

After a few minuets of conspiratorial whispering, Bo pulled Prosper's fingers out of his ears.

"Well?" he looked round at them expectantly. Riccio sat forward, trying in vain to suppress the grin that was spreading across his face. He paused dramatically, then asked

"Do you fancy Hornet?!"

Prosper's mouth dropped open. He hadn't thought of _that._ Riccio and Mosca were giggling into their hands, Scipio was frowning slightly and trying to look disapproving but not quite managing it and Bo was staring wide-eyed at Prosper. Hornet had suddenly become very interested in the carpet in front of her, but he could see the tips of her ears were pink.

Prosper opened his mouth (he still hadn't decided what he was going to say) hesitated, and then was saved by what seemed to him to be an angel in the shape of Ida, who stuck her head round the door, to tell them that dinner was ready. She looked at them suspiciously.

"What are you all doing so quietly?" she asked.

"Nothing" said Riccio, and the others nodded innocently. Riccio grimaced at Prosper behind Ida's back, as if to say _later._ Prosper blinked. The back of his neck was very hot.

Prosper avoided sitting next to either Riccio or Hornet at dinner. He ended up between Ida and Bo. When the cake came out Hornet gasped suddenly. They hadn't told anybody about the cake! Someone was bound to say something about the weird flavour. Assuming it did taste weird. She thought quickly.

"Bo?" she said. "Would you take out my plate please?" Hornet was behind the table, so it would be difficult for her to get out. Bo took away her plate. Hornet tapped her fork on the table. "Listen to me, everyone please!" she said loudly. Eventually everyone was looking at her. "Bo made the cake." She said, talking fast. "If it tastes odd, please don't say anything! It's just there was a little accident…"

Ida chipped in. "It will probably taste fine, it's just-" she stopped short as Bo reappeared in the doorway. She began collecting up the plates and knives and forks. Scipio and Riccio, who were sitting opposite each other, exchanged a worried look. Hornet shook her head at them. The cake, as it turned out, tasted fine. Fortunately, everyone liked peppermint. After it was mainly devoured, Hornet pulled out a small rapped parcel from under the table, and handed it to Prosper.

"Bonus present" she said.

"What? But you've already got my something…" Prosper looked confused.

"No, this one's from all of us."

"Oh, thanks guys!" Prosper, still looking a little confused, pulled of the paper. It was a tiny wooden model, and at first, Prosper couldn't work out what he was seeing. Then he realised it was a model of the roundabout. He stared at it for a few seconds.

"Where did you get this?"

"In one of the little shops. I can't really remember where it was." Said Ida. "Was it like, that, Prop?" Asked Bo.

"Well, I'm not sure, really." Prosper handed the model to Scipio. "What do you think Scip? Was it like that?"

Scipio grinned. "The real thing was much bigger of course…"

"Duh." Muttered Mosca. Bo and Riccio laughed.

Scipio smiled. "But seriously, Prop, I think…"

"It's not as beautiful, is it, Scip?"

"No. And the lion was bigger."

"Yeah. The lion was bigger."

It was much later. The table was cleared, the floor swept. Scipio, Victor, Riccio and Mosca had all left, waving cheery goodbyes and last-minuet happy birthdays. Bo was in bed, crashed out the moment his head touched the pillow, the way small children do. Ida was in the front room, on her computer.

Prosper and Hornet were washing up, Prosper scrubbing, Hornet drying.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Prop…"

"What about?"

Hornet shook her hair down, hiding the blushes. "You know… the Truth or Dare. I really didn't know Riccio was going to ask that…" her voice died away.

Prosper shook his head. "No, it's fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

Hornet took a deep breath, and said, all in a rush, "What would you have said?" Prosper turned to face her, a half-washed dish in his hands, forgotten.

"You really want to know?"

Hornet nodded. Her neck felt very hot. "I guess."

Prosper turned back to the sink, and placed the last plate on the draining board. "I…I'm not going to tell you. You can work it out for yourself." He pulled of the gloves. Hornet leaned against the side, a slight frown crossing her face.

"Really?"

Prosper smiled at her. "Yeah. Really."

Hornet couldn't help herself. A broad grin spread across her face. "Well…Goodnight Prop. Happy birthday." Suddenly she stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. Then she turned and almost ran to the door. Prosper watched her go.

"Thanks Hornet." He muttered. "That was the best present you gave me today." The he switched of the light, and went upstairs to bed.

**Thank you everyone… I'm sorry if that was too long, I didn't mean it to be but it just kept going! That was the first time I've tried to write romantic stuff so if it was horribly contrived and unnatural please tell me! And if you thought it was wonderful, please tell me! If you think anything, please tell me! **

**To recap; Please review!! **


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